Legislative fixes to water crisis still elusive

House Speaker Andy Tobin said water legislation is at the top of Arizona’s priority list for next year, but a solution to the state’s impending water crisis is as elusive as ever.

Extracting funds for K-12

Crandell’s overhaul of school finance plan attracts skepticism and support

It’s a puzzle that has vexed policymakers, education leaders and business groups for decades, but it’s one that Sen. Chester Crandell hopes to solve: How can the state revamp education funding to be both fair and simple?

Brewer committee expected to help pro-Medicaid Republicans

Gov. Jan Brewer is hitting the fundraising trail again for an independent expenditure committee that is expected to help the Republican lawmakers who backed her Medicaid expansion plan.

Reforming election reform

Debate over HB2305 continues after opponents gather enough signatures to put it on the ballot

Groups opposing the state’s election reform law rejoiced on Oct. 29 when the secretary of state concluded the referendum against the law has enough signatures to appear on the 2014 ballot.

Human trafficking recommendations complete

The governor’s Task Force on Human Trafficking wants lawmakers to enact tougher penalties on pimps who sell underage prostitutes and customers who pay them, while easing punishments against child prostitutes and treating them more as victims under the law.

Donor fatigue

Higher contribution limits don’t translate into avalanche of cash

Legislators who approved a controversial election law this year and are hoping to get a serious bump in their fundraising efforts should not expect to see an avalanche of hefty checks coming their way.

Campaign finance changes’ unintended consequences

Hoping to raise more cash, lawmakers instead face new limits

Saving a railway

The Arizona Commerce Authority’s deal-closing fund became more of a deal-making fund during the 2013 legislative session, opening the possibility that more special projects could be in the agency’s future.

Hotshot’s widow asks governor for special session

The pregnant widow of one of the firefighters killed while fighting a wildfire near Yarnell is asking Gov. Jan Brewer to call a special session of the Legislature to address benefits for the men's families.

Brewer, 3 others cited by school superintendents for public education support

Gov. Jan Brewer, two state lawmakers and a long-time education advocate were honored Aug. 6 by the Arizona Association of County School Superintendents for their efforts on behalf of K-12 public education.

Political groups try to keep HB2305 from becoming law

When lawmakers rolled several controversial elections changes into one jam-packed omnibus bill and approved it in the final moments of the legislative session, a coalition of disparate political groups coalesced around a single goal: to stop the bill from becoming law.

GOP lawmakers’ anger at Brewer may not last

The rage and indignation that many GOP lawmakers directed at Gov. Jan Brewer at the end of the legislative session may be nothing but a bad memory when the Legislature reconvenes next year.